Memes started out as the secret handshake of the Internet -- a way to let your peers know that you too were up-to-date on the latest cat macros and misspelled quotes from Japanese video games. But now the Internet has changed, and memes aren't what they once were. Cracked Editors Jack O'Brien, Soren Bowie and Cody Johnston explain how our tubes got clogged with memes, leading to planking, Tebowing and all sorts of other "memes" that spread purely because people wanted to see their faces on the news.

We like to think of memes as one way people change the face of the Internet, but some memes change people. No one felt like "information wants to be free" until the Internet made it possible. Human language itself may have kicked off as a meme, the "I Can Has Cheeseburger" of prehistoric times. Throw on your headphones and click play above.